Homemade Chicken Feed Recipe--How Does This Sound?

[HobbitWife]

Hi everyone!
We're about to transition our flock of laying hens (and one pullet) to a homemade mix of grains/seeds, etc. I found this recipe one BYC ages ago (will link the original post if I can find it,) and just wanted to run it by some more experienced chicken keepers:
12 cups of whole unhulled oats
8 cups of hard red wheat
8 cups of soft white wheat
6 cups of whole corn
4 cups of split peas (using yellow)
4 cups of lentils
2 cups of flax seeds
1 cup of alfalfa pellets
1 cup of sesame seeds
3/4 cup of kelp granules
2 tbsp of molasses
I ran this through the Garden Betty chicken feed calculator, and it looks like the macros are right: 16% protein, 4.4% fat.
We are getting everything (except the molasses, which we already have on hand) from Azure Standard.
How does it look? Should I add a poultry balancer like this one? https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/...ry-nutri-balancer-regular/13782?package=GP039
Anywho, hope everyone is having a good day!

 

[Aapomp831]

IMO, way too many carbs. Oats and corn are not meant to be fed to chickens everyday. I think you need to focus more on protein.

 

[HobbitWife]

Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your feedback. We eventually decided not to mix our own feed. For anyone reading this in the future, who may be in search of a budget- friendly solution, here's what is working for us now: we give them a 50/50 mix of Scratch and Peck brand layer feed and Big Sky Organics layer mash. Our hens always have access to the dry food in the coop, and we also ferment some feed overnight (since it's pretty warm right now, overnight is sufficient) and give it to them outside first thing in the morning. They love the fermented feed (of course, we always check for mold, etc.) and it really seems to help stretch our supply. We've also noticed they're laying better, and the eggs are bigger!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Whole dried? I should have clarified, the *will* eat it but they can't really digest it well, not that it matters, corn is pretty devoid of nutrients. It's just carbs.

Have you actually looked at the nutritional value of corn? The actual values will depend on the type of corn, when and how it is harvested and stored. I think these are fairly representative values of the corn we would feed out chickens. The information did not copy as nicely as I'd like, Neither did the link. I'll copying a link, then I searched for "Corn grain, yellow. But do your own research. People are more likely to believe their own research anyway.

https://www.nutritionvalue.org

This is based on a serving size of 166 grams. A lot of those percents are based on daily values for humans, not chickens, so don't be too misled by that. As you see, protein provided is 16 grams so corn is about 10% protein. But like any other cereal grain corn also provides a lot more, including minerals and vitamins. It is not just protein. There is a reason corn was one of the "three sisters" grown by many of the Native American tribes. Carbohydrates were part of that but not the only reason.

I'm not saying that corn should be a major component of their daily diet. Like everything else, it should not. But you might want to check your facts if you think corn is "pretty devoid of nutrients".

Nutrition Facts
Portion Size	166 g
Calories Per Portion	606
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 7.9g	10 %
Saturated Fat 1.1g	6 %
Sodium 58mg	3 %
Total Carbohydrate 123g	45 %
Dietary Fiber 12g	43 %
Sugar 1.1g
Protein 16g	32 %
Vitamin D 0.00mcg	0 %
Calcium 11.62mg	1 %
Iron 4.50mg	25 %
Potassium 476mg	10 %
* The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contribute to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Vitamins
Nutrient	Amount	DV
Vitamin A, RAE	18.26 mcg	2 %
Carotene, alpha	104.58 mcg
Carotene, beta	161.02 mcg
Cryptoxanthin, beta	0.00 mcg
Lutein + zeaxanthin	2249.30 mcg
Lycopene	0.00 mcg
Retinol	0.00 mcg
Thiamin [Vitamin B1]	0.639 mg	53 %
Riboflavin [Vitamin B2]	0.334 mg	26 %
Niacin [Vitamin B3]	6.021 mg	38 %
Pantothenic acid [Vitamin B5]	0.704 mg	14 %
Vitamin B6	1.033 mg	79 %
Vitamin B12 [Cobalamin]	0.00 mcg	0 %
Vitamin B12, added	0.00 mcg
Folate, DFE [Vitamin B9]	31.54 mcg	8 %
Folate, food	31.54 mcg
Folic acid	0.00 mcg
Vitamin C [Ascorbic acid]	0.0 mg	0 %
Vitamin D	0.00 mcg	0 %
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	0.81 mg	4 %
Vitamin E, added	0.00 mg
Tocopherol, alpha	0.81 mg
Vitamin K	0.5 mcg	0 %

Minerals
Nutrient	Amount	DV
Calcium, Ca	11.62 mg	1 %
Copper, Cu	0.521 mg	58 %
Iron, Fe	4.50 mg	25 %
Magnesium, Mg	210.82 mg	53 %
Manganese, Mn	0.805 mg	35 %
Phosphorus, P	348.60 mg	50 %
Potassium, K	476.42 mg	10 %
Selenium, Se	25.7 mcg	47 %
Sodium, Na	58.10 mg	3 %
Zinc, Zn	3.67 mg	33 %

Proteins and Aminoacids
Nutrient

 

[PioneerChicks]

Hmm, maybe up the protein and offer a calcium source as free choice? I'm no expert on this.

 

[HobbitWife]

Hmm, maybe up the protein and offer a calcium source as free choice? I'm no expert on this.

Oh! Totally forgot to mention--we will offer oyster shells as free choice. They also free range all day.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Here's Feedipedia on Corn. Click on the "Nutritional Aspects" tab for a good survey. You need to know how to read the nutritional tables, or it can be deceptive, but they are next tab over.

it has its uses - protein isn't the whole story, making feed involves balancing, LOTS of balancing.

 

[Duckbreeder2020]

To many carbs!!!!!!

 

[nuthatched]

Nix the oat, corn (they can't eat whole corn), lentils, peas (you can't feed dried legumes to poultry) and sesame seeds are too fatty.
You're not going to save money or have healthier (at least with this formula) chickens with homemade feeds entirely.
There are not nearly enough amino acids , and vitamins or minerals in this, just straight up carbs.
You can develop your own scratch but don't futz with feed.

 

[Aapomp831]

Hmm, maybe up the protein and offer a calcium source as free choice? I'm no expert on this.

Yes. Calcium should always be offered free choice.